They want to be on the inside of the 7th largest economy in the world.
And without those extra costs they might be the 5th or 6th largest economy. (Note, in particular regulatory costs, the higher tax burden doesn't help, but some of it used for useful infrastructure, and in any case it isn't as harmful as the high regulatory burden.)
As for under-performance it was more than a year or two, a year or two has been the bounce back for it so far, the underperformance was longer.
I'm not sure CA will go back to under-performing. It has a lot going for it, and while its government imposes higher costs then most other states, I'm not sure that it will be foolish enough to continue to add costs at a rate that exceeds other states. CA has problems to be sure, but it has a good climate, a lot of educated people, and a huge in place stock of investment. If they don't f things up, its possible for them to do well. Very unlikely to grow as rapidly as it did when it became the largest state economy. Its population growth isn't going to be as strong, outsized growth from a larger base is harder, and CA's economy is less free then it used to be. Still I don't necessarily see CA as a basket case going forward. It could happen, but those who portray it as inevitable because of a minimum wage increase or because Democrats are in charge, aren't making very reasonable assertions. |
